


your heart tattooed upon my skin

by CerinityKS



Series: it's a soulmate thing (or: the word chronicles) [2]
Category: Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Movie Spoilers, Non-Graphic Smut, Not A Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 04:48:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11097222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CerinityKS/pseuds/CerinityKS
Summary: Steve Trevor was born with Words.Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, Princess of Themyscira, was not born with Words.





	your heart tattooed upon my skin

**Author's Note:**

> i saw wonder woman this weekend and fell in love with wondertrev all over again, and so i had to write _something_ , and here it is, another soulmate!au because i seem to love those. i do plan to try to write more so look out for that in the future too. there's a few notes at the end too on why dates and ages were chosen.
> 
> anyway i hope you enjoy! ♥

_1893_

Steve Trevor was born with Words. 

That wasn’t a terribly unusual occurrence, especially not in such modern times as these, but it was rare enough that his mother was slightly taken aback. She could hear the nurses gossiping off to the side as she was handed her baby ( _her precious baby boy_ ) and did her best to ignore them as she rubbed a cautious finger across the cords encircling her son’s tiny wrist. 

The doctor was talking. 

“...and of course, as you know, only some 25% of the population is born with words but you needn’t be alarmed Ms. Trevor. History has proven that those born with their Words go on to do great things, and half of them find their Word Match before they’re 20 even, imagine that! The luck…” 

She tuned him out. She already knew her son would do great things, she didn’t doubt it, and even if he didn’t she would love him anyway. As a mother should. Still, however, she couldn’t keep the slight frown from her face, likely what kept the doctor talking even though she’d clearly stopped listening. 

_You’re a man_

The Words on her son’s wrist were strange, and she tried to envision some future scenario that would lead her son’s soulmate to speaking these words. What kind of person could they possibly be, to be so surprised to see her son was a boy? 

No, she wasn’t worried about her son in the least, but his soulmate… well, that was another matter. 

Her son blinked his eyes open then, brilliant blue pools locking onto hers, and any thoughts of soulmates or oddness disappeared as she beamed down at him. 

“Have you chosen a name yet, Ms. Trevor?” the doctor abruptly asked, cutting himself off from his soulmate statistic diatribe. She blinked up at him momentarily before she smiled back down at her son. 

“Yes,” she whispered, as thoughts of his absent father and their conversations about this very topic flooded her mind. She had already chosen a name. “Steve,” she continued, and wished her husband could be there for this moment, how proud he’d be to see his son. “Steve Trevor.” 

She didn’t know what the future had in store for her son, but she knew, could feel it in her bones, that he’d be great. 

\- 

_hundreds of years ago_

Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, princess of Themyscira, was not born with Words. Hippolyta had demanded the Amazon that had performed the medical examination on her daughter check again. When she reported again that she had no words, Hippolyta took it upon herself to check. 

Unfortunately, the Amazon spoke truth. Her daughter was not Worded, was not blessed by Zeus, her _father_ , to be given the honor of a soulmate. Hippolyta despaired. Was it not curse enough that he daughter was a demi-god, named god killer by prophecy and right of her blood? That she was destined to fight Ares, the God of war, whensoever he should appear again? Now she would not even know the joy of having a soulmate, the other half of her soul, her tether to life and Gaia herself? 

Hippolyta had never hated the gods, but in that moment she hated Zeus. 

“Fear not, my wonder,” she whispered to her sleeping daughter as she cradled her closer. “You are loved, and if Zeus has not deemed you worthy of Words, then we shall simply have to show them you are worth more.” 

Yes, her daughter may not be Worded, but she would never be without love, and she would never doubt her worth. 

“This I swear, my sweet Diana.” 

\- 

_1912 - 1914_

Steve Trevor is 19 when he decided to help defend his country, and not long after that the Balkan’s declare war on the Ottoman empire. No one is really concerned, but they keep an eye on the situation, and he hears a few people begin to murmur about unrest to the East, how things seem to be spiraling lately, but he puts it off as paranoia and dismisses anything he hears. 

Instead he applies almost immediately to join the aeronautical division that’s in development, and just the idea of it makes his head spin and his heart race. Imagine, being able to fly! He feels even better when he gets accepted, and then he’s learning to pilot these amazing new machines and he feel as if his heart could burst. Imagine, the places he could get to! 

And then he thinks of his Words, and he can’t help but wonder - is this how it happens? Learning to fly and being able to go to far off places he couldn’t have before? It’s a fantastical idea, but one he can’t help but think of more and more as he slowly learns. It gives him a warm feeling, the idea that this is the path he’s supposed to be on, and so he pushes himself more, flies to the top of his class, becomes invaluable. 

And then the worst thing happens, and an Archduke is assassinated, and suddenly all that speculation about things happening isn’t just speculation anymore. Suddenly there’s a war, and he’s right in the middle of it, and it never seems like it will end. Still he persists, and gets even better. In the process he meets people he knows will be friends for life - Charlie, Samir, Chief, and then in England Etta. 

Anytime he starts to doubt himself all he has to do is look at the words on his wrist and remember how freeing it is to fly, and he knows he’s doing the right thing. 

\- 

_many years ago_

Diana never questioned her lack of Words, never felt the need to see a phrase tattooed across her skin. She was a relatively bright and happy child regardless, with a thirst for life and a desire to learn that pleased her mother - as long as it was pointed away from subjects she would rather Diana not learn about. 

In fact, the only time Diana ever questioned it was a few hundred years into her life, after Antiope had finally deigned to let her spar with live weapons. 

“Antiope, what are the words everyone wears?” she questioned after one of their daily spars had concluded. Antiope froze, clearly caught off guard, and Diana felt a small flicker of guilt. 

“What makes you ask?” Antiope finally replied. 

Diana shrugged and swung her training sword in a small arc. “Curiosity. Mother’s never told me, so I figured it wasn’t for me to know, that I was too young, but I’m not a child anymore!” she insisted, and Antiope smiled. 

“No, you’re not just a child anymore,” she conceded, and Diana beamed. 

“So you’ll tell me?” 

Antiope studied her, saw the eager gleam in her niece’s eye, and despite her sister’s warnings to the Amazon’s to never reveal the meaning of the Words to her daughter, Antiope relented. After all, she’d already broken a promise to her sister by training Diana, why not break another? Especially one much more harmless than the other. 

“The words are a blessing on us by the Gods,” Antiope revealed as she displayed her own mark (written on the inside of her forearm) proudly. “They let us know the other half of our soul, the person that tethers us to life and the Earth. Without them we are not complete.” 

Diana took a moment to process the words, and Antiope watched her carefully. 

“Then, why do I not have Words?” Diana finally questioned, sounding more curious than sad. “Am I not worthy of them?” 

“Never think that,” Antiope quickly denied. “The Gods must have looked at you and seen that you were already complete, worthy of being your own tether. There is no shame in that.” 

Diana considered her words with a frown, and Antiope held her breath and wondered how her words would be taken. Truthfully they knew not why Diana had no Words, but that is the answer that they had decided upon, a century after Diana’s birth, and the only one Hippolyta would have ever agreed to give Diana in answer to this very question. 

“Okay,” Diana eventually shrugged, and Antiope breathed once more. “Can we spar once more Antiope? Please?” she begged, an eagerness in her eyes, and Antiope grinned. 

“Ready yourself little princess,” she replied simply, and Diana grinned as Antiope threw herself forward, relieved that Diana had brushed it aside so simply. 

Yes, if there was anyone in this world that did not need a soulmate, it would be their Diana. 

\- 

_1918_

Steve grew older, and the war continued to rage on, until it had been 4 years already and Steve hardly remembered what life was like without it. He had seen terrible things, and done terrible things in return, and sometimes when he looked in the mirror he could hardly recognize himself or the man he’d become. He’d think about his words, and it was in moments like these that he could imagine how his soulmate could question him being a man. 

And then he was assigned an infiltration mission, and he’d be escorting Ludendorff himself to see the infamous Doctor Poison, and things started to go very wrong. 

He’d managed to steal the doctor’s notebook, something he was _sure_ would be key to finally stopping this war, and then he had to flee, but not before he managed to blow up the compound in the process, even though the delay meant that he had multiple german pilots trailing him and doing their best to kill him. 

It wasn’t until he was over the Atlantic ocean and in the process of being shot down, though not without taking the last of those german bastard pilots down with him, that he finally thought once more of his soulmate. 

‘I’m sorry,’ he thought as his plane dived, completely out of his control now, ‘I wish I’d had more time.’ 

And then he was crashing, but it was _light_ where it had been dark before, and there was an _island_ where previously there had been none, and he could possibly _live_ , so he struggled, and tried to free himself, but he was _stuck_ , damnit, _not now_ -! 

There was water surrounding him, and it was getting harder to breathe, but still he couldn’t free himself, and then he looked up as the tail broke off and there was someone else in the water, and- 

It all went black. 

\- 

Steve woke with a groan, sun blinding him, and it took him a moment to realize that he was _alive_. 

He was alive and there was someone kneeling over him. He focused on them blearily, and a beautiful woman started to come into focus. “Wha-?” he started, so confused and thrown, and she smiled in confusion. 

“You’re a man,” she said, and Steve stared at her, uncomprehending, before he realized holy shit those were his _words_ , and the woman who said them looked like an angel, and- 

“Yeah, I mean,” he stuttered, confused and still trying to comprehend it all. “Don’t I look like one?” 

She laughed a little, still smiling, but then it all went to hell again because the German’s were there, they’d followed him, and oh shit his soulmate was in danger because of him. 

But she surprised him, fighting fiercely and fearlessly, even against guns, but she and her people were winning and he couldn’t help but be so impressed by her that he imagined that was the moment he fell in love. Watching her fight, a look of intense concentration on her face as she cut down her enemies, and Steve never wanted to be anywhere but by her side. 

Then the battle was over, and one of the other woman had taken a bullet for her and she was crying and Steve felt like he’d been kicked in the chest. 

This was all his fault. 

Even still, she defended him against the others as they focused their attention and rage on him, and she was radiant. 

\- 

Diana was confused by the man, yet still, she was drawn to him. He spoke of things that filled her with sorrow, and she knew, deep in her bones, that he’d been sent to them - to _her_ \- for a reason. 

So when she went to meet him in the healing pools, she only intended to question him about this war he spoke of, and to tell him that she would be joining him - it was her sacred duty as an Amazon to fight, to protect humanity from Ares, and this war was clearly the result of his machinations. 

Yet she couldn’t stop herself from being distracted by him. They spoke of many things, and then she caught sight of the Words around his wrist. 

“You have Words,” she said, surprised. He blinked, then looked down at his wrist where her attention was focused and back at her bemusedly. 

“Of course I do,” and then he paused and looked at her carefully, even as he covered his Words with a black leather cuff, hiding them from view before she could read them. “Don’t you?” 

She shook her head, and a foreign emotion crossed his face, and it took her a second to recognize it as grief. It confused her. 

“I am the only one on Themyscira without Words,” she admitted, and Steve swallowed. 

“Y-you’ve never had them?” 

She shook her head and stepped a bit closer. “No, I was told that they were a blessing by the Gods, but that when they looked down on me they saw that I was complete as I was, never in need of them like the rest of humanity.” 

Steve looked away, and Diana was startled by the level of sadness she saw in his gaze. How kind a soul must Steve Trevor be, to feel this level of sadness for another person. 

“Don’t worry Steve,” she smiled and brought his attention back to her. “I am not bothered by it, so you need not be either. I consider it an honor that the Gods believe I am capable of being my own tether to this world.” 

“Right,” Steve nodded, but somehow her words did not appear to appease him. Well, then Diana would simply have to show him when she joined him on the journey to Man’s world. 

\- 

Steve had finally found his soulmate, but it turned out while he might be hers, she wasn’t his. 

The more time they spent together though, the more Steve found himself being okay with this. Diana was so good and pure, a light upon this Earth, and he didn’t think anyone could possibly deserve her, especially not him. He contented himself with the fact that he could walk beside her, be her friend and watch her back. Because even though she was a badass warrior woman, she still needed someone to watch her back from the bad guys when she was fighting. She had a worrying habit of not watching her surroundings, something Steve was determined to fix. 

Even without Words tying them together though, Steve couldn’t deny that there had to be _something_ between them, he wasn’t the only one to feel it. He could see it, in the way she leaned into him as they swayed together in the post-liberation celebration in Veld. Could see it in the way she looked at him, softly, with affection, like he was as precious to her as she was becoming to him. 

So when he went to bid her goodnight, he had promised himself that it was all it would be, there would be no sleeping together that night. But the way she looked at him… 

That first kiss has been magical, as had the second, and the third, and the fourth, and then Diana was letting him maneuver her to the bed as he settled over her, lips trailing down her neck as she sighed and tangled her hands in his hair. 

“What do you want?” he breathed as he slid his hands up her bare thighs and pressed a kiss to her breast bone. “Anything you want, just tell me, I’ll do it for you,” he promised against her skin. 

“Are you telling the truth?” she teased. 

“Want to tie me up and find out?” he teased right back, and oh, the promise that appeared in her eyes at that. The shiver that ran down his spine at the thought of it, being tied up and at her mercy, to do with as she pleased, excited him more than he’d anticipated. But for her, anything. 

“Maybe another night,” she whispered, and then she did something and suddenly her outfit was loose and his mouth was dry. 

“Your mouth,” she licked her lips, eyes dark, and Steve pressed a kiss to her lips as he helped her remove the suit. 

“Where?” he asked as she finally lay beneath him, glorious and beautiful. 

“Wherever you wish,” and Steve wanted to taste her everywhere, pleasure her all night long, but he knew they wouldn’t have time for everything he wished in that moment, so he dropped down and pressed a kiss to her inner thighs, and Diana’s breath hitched as he parted her legs more to settle more easily between them. 

The sound she made when he first tasted her, slow and tentative, was encouraging. He teased her a little, wanting to hear more, but his Diana knew what she wanted and went after it, and as she forced him closer, demanded _more, harder_ , he acquiesced. 

Her first orgasm was a surprise, and the way she clenched her thighs around his head made him breathless, before she relaxed. He didn’t stop however, and the noises of encouragement from her made him keep at it, introducing his hands next, and her next orgasm he made sure to wring out of her slowly, keeping her on the edge until she finally demanded more, and the way she cried his name made his heart (and other bits) swell. 

“You have far too many clothes on still,” she finally noted as Steve slowly kissed his way up her stomach, fingers still working languidly inside her. 

“Would you like to undress me?” he asked, and she sighed as he withdrew his fingers. 

“I think I would,” she replied, and her quick, nimble fingers made easy work of his shirt and trousers. Her hands hesitated when they got to his leather cuff however, a question in her eyes, and Steve just smiled as he reached up and undid that himself. 

Diana focused on his wrist as the Words were revealed, and Steve knew the moment she recognized them. 

“These Words,” she breathed, and Steve nodded. 

“Yes.” 

“You did not tell me,” she accused, and Steve nodded again. 

“I am yours, but you’re not mine,” was the only explanation he gave. 

“Your sadness in the cave,” she replied to that, a sudden understanding lighting her face. 

“Yes,” but he’d gotten over that. 

“Would you have told me the truth if not for this night?” she questioned, eyes narrowed, and Steve smiled. 

“Yes. I don’t care that you don’t have any Words from me Diana, that’s not what this, tonight, is about. This is about us, just being, and me wanting to be with you because you’re _you_ ,” he emphasized and made sure she was looking him in the eyes as he said it, so she could read the truth in them without her lasso. “Words or no Words, I would want you.” 

Diana studied him carefully, but slowly, she started to smile. 

“I believe you,” and Steve, grateful, leaned forward to steal her lips in a kiss that she gladly returned. 

She slowly maneuvered him onto his back, Diana straddling his thighs comfortably, and he couldn’t help but gaze up at her in awe as she slowly took him inside her. She started to move, and Steve couldn’t breath for the pleasure she brought him, and in that moment, looking into her eyes, he knew she felt the connection too - Words or no Words. He’d choose her in this and every life, and he could only hope that she might one day feel the same, if they both survived this. 

\- 

‘ _I wish we had more time. I love you._ ’ 

Diana could feel nothing but rage and sorrow as she saw proof of Steve’s destruction above her, so far out of her reach with no way for her to save him. His final words to her ringing in her head, heartbreaking, said in the certainty of death that she couldn’t save him from. 

If only, if only, _if only_. 

The last words he’d ever say to her, a confession that she never got a chance to return. The power that built in her, the ruthlessness, it scared her once she came back to her senses, and it shamed her, that she could lose control so easily. It was only the memory of Steve (who could only be that now, a _memory_ , gone far too soon, and it wasn’t _fair_ -) and the way he’d believed in her, in this mission, that grounded her. 

It wasn’t until Ares was finally defeated and she was standing on a fiery tarmac surrounded by the survivors of Ares’ wrath that she finally understood the meaning of having a tether. And thought she had no Words to prove it, Diana knew without a doubt that Steve was her tether. 

And she would spend the rest of her life honoring his memory. She only had to do one thing first. 

\- 

_2017_

Diana traced the photograph Bruce had managed to find and send to her sadly, eyes tracing the curves of his face even as, in her memories, she remembered the taste of his mouth and the feel of his skin against hers, that night in Veld, the only night they ever got. 

She slowly set the photograph down and sent an email to Bruce - he deserved her thanks for this, for finally giving her back a precious memento that she had thought lost forever. As she did she caught sight of her wrist, and a smile came to her lips as she traced the Words there, the Words she had tattooed upon herself in his memory, a physical memory upon her skin of the tether she’d chosen for herself. 

Steve would never come back, but in this, she could honor what he was to her - her Words had brought them together, and his had ripped them apart, a beginning and an end, but never forgotten. 

Seh would carry him with her the rest of her life, her tether, and maybe, someday, they might meet again. 

‘ _I wish we had more time, I love you’_

**Author's Note:**

> some notes:
> 
> age's - as far as i know no actual age was given for steve in the movie so i decided he was 25 and calculated my dates accordingly; as for diana, snyder says she's over 5000 years old, patty jenkins says shes around 500, so i'mma compromise to somwhere in the middle
> 
> dates - ww, if you didn't know, is set in ww1, not 2, so i just built the dates around that accordingly, but by no means an i an expert so i kept it to years only
> 
> come fine [me](http://rinnielove.tumblr.com/) and [this](http://rinnielove.tumblr.com/post/161448707371/your-heart-tattooed-upon-my-skin) on tumblr ♥


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